We can't go into the season with only 17 pitchers on the 40 man, one of which is unavailable. We used 24 pitchers last year and 30 in 2019.
We also need to add a vet catcher to the 40 man.
We also have only 13 position players with any MLB experience. One, Naylor, is unlikely to be ready until mid season. Three...Miller, Clement, and Bradley...have minimal experience. Three more...Zimmer, Mercado, and Chang...are 26th man types.
We can't contend with three/four true position rookies on the opening day roster...but thats where we will stand, if we cut a bunch of the vets loose to make room for 40 man additions.
Six of our semi experienced players...Bradley, Clement, Miller, Zimmer, Mercado, and Chang...have little or no trade value.
Not even considering needing to upgrade several positions, the roster situation dictates a major trade to add veteran players and relieve some roster pressure....to add a catcher...and to add three pitchers to the 40 man.
Although perhaps not by opening day, we need to create 40 man openings for the inevitable additions a 162 game season demands.
Two moves seem easy...Vargas and Naylor to the 60 day IL....and its easy to say that we can DFA guys like Clement, Zimmer, and Mercado. But who takes their places on the active roster, true rookies?
Do we really think we can contend with Lavastida, Palacios, Kwan, and Arias on the opening day roster? Do we really think a pen with five or six inexperienced relievers can carry this team? Do we really want to put off the development of multiple SP prospects by putting them in the pen to be bridges between the rotation and Clase?
A major multiple for one trade is almost inevitable, and it won't be multiple spare parts.
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My FA targets, if we don't fill our holes thru major trades, are Pham and McCutchen. Both RH corner OFs. And a couple NRI relievers. I see no FA catcher better than what we have.
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I'm not sure I expect it to happen, but IMO the two non 40 man prospects most likely to see Cleveland this year are Mikolajchak and Battenfield.
I've seen write ups that compare Mikolajchak to Clase and Karinchak. By mid season, we might have the most fearsome pen in baseball with Clase, Karinchak, Mikolajchak, Hentges, Gose, and Sandlin...or it could be a total bust in front of Clase. And thats why we should hedge our bets with an experienced vet or two.
Battenfield is a big kid, as big as Cookie. A big kid with a new wipe out cutter and immaculate control. From Espino on up, Battenfield has the best K/BB rate and best BB% of any of our SP prospects.
I like big pitchers...a lot more than I like smaller ones. And I like big pitchers with immaculate control. There aren't many around. I like big pitchers, because everything else being equal, they can carry a bigger load and eat more innings. On top of that, Battenfield is efficient, averaging under 15 pitches per inning, which is better than any starter we had in Cleveland last year. Battenfield has the look of a 200+ IP starter down the road.
We also need to add a vet catcher to the 40 man.
We also have only 13 position players with any MLB experience. One, Naylor, is unlikely to be ready until mid season. Three...Miller, Clement, and Bradley...have minimal experience. Three more...Zimmer, Mercado, and Chang...are 26th man types.
We can't contend with three/four true position rookies on the opening day roster...but thats where we will stand, if we cut a bunch of the vets loose to make room for 40 man additions.
Six of our semi experienced players...Bradley, Clement, Miller, Zimmer, Mercado, and Chang...have little or no trade value.
Not even considering needing to upgrade several positions, the roster situation dictates a major trade to add veteran players and relieve some roster pressure....to add a catcher...and to add three pitchers to the 40 man.
Although perhaps not by opening day, we need to create 40 man openings for the inevitable additions a 162 game season demands.
Two moves seem easy...Vargas and Naylor to the 60 day IL....and its easy to say that we can DFA guys like Clement, Zimmer, and Mercado. But who takes their places on the active roster, true rookies?
Do we really think we can contend with Lavastida, Palacios, Kwan, and Arias on the opening day roster? Do we really think a pen with five or six inexperienced relievers can carry this team? Do we really want to put off the development of multiple SP prospects by putting them in the pen to be bridges between the rotation and Clase?
A major multiple for one trade is almost inevitable, and it won't be multiple spare parts.
**************
My FA targets, if we don't fill our holes thru major trades, are Pham and McCutchen. Both RH corner OFs. And a couple NRI relievers. I see no FA catcher better than what we have.
**********
I'm not sure I expect it to happen, but IMO the two non 40 man prospects most likely to see Cleveland this year are Mikolajchak and Battenfield.
I've seen write ups that compare Mikolajchak to Clase and Karinchak. By mid season, we might have the most fearsome pen in baseball with Clase, Karinchak, Mikolajchak, Hentges, Gose, and Sandlin...or it could be a total bust in front of Clase. And thats why we should hedge our bets with an experienced vet or two.
Battenfield is a big kid, as big as Cookie. A big kid with a new wipe out cutter and immaculate control. From Espino on up, Battenfield has the best K/BB rate and best BB% of any of our SP prospects.
I like big pitchers...a lot more than I like smaller ones. And I like big pitchers with immaculate control. There aren't many around. I like big pitchers, because everything else being equal, they can carry a bigger load and eat more innings. On top of that, Battenfield is efficient, averaging under 15 pitches per inning, which is better than any starter we had in Cleveland last year. Battenfield has the look of a 200+ IP starter down the road.
